RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Alex Reynolds, Catherine Hill &
Laura Guilfoyle
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF TRADITIONAL VERSUS TACTUAL-KINAESTHETIC INSTRUCTION ON SHORT TERM KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND ATTITUDE IN MIDDLE YEARS STUDENTS?
SUB-QUESTION Do students of all learning styles
respond positively to tactual-kinaesthetic instruction?
KEY TERMS Traditional Instruction – techniques
such as ‘chalk and talk’, lectures, assigned readings and teacher-directed.
Tactual-kinaesthetic instruction – teaching methods requiring students to physically move, handle manipulatives, and participate in concrete, real-life experiences.
WHY THIS QUESTION?
Disengagement in the middle years
A lot of instruction in the middle
years is verbal and visual
Enable teachers to reach students
through more varied learning styles
Current focus on using kinaesthetic
teaching for students with ADHD
WHY ACTION RESEARCH? This research project can be
implemented within our own classrooms
The results of this will be used to inform our own teaching
WHAT DOES THE LITERATURE SAY? Farkas (2003). Research with year 7
students taught using a multisensory approach showed an increase in performance and attitude.
Rule, Dockstader & Stewart (2006). US study of 34 students. Implemented tactile and kinaesthetic activities and found they increased target skills.
Peacock (2001). Hong Kong study. Found many students felt a mismatch between teaching and learning styles seriously affected their learning.
LITERATURE CONTINUED
Honigsfeld & Dunn (2009). “The best strategies for engaging tactual and kinaesthetic learners’ minds are to engage their hands and bodies with manipulative instructional resources or to allow them to learn on their feet” (p.221).
Stanford (2003). “New assessments should not focus on whether or not students can acquire knowledge but on whether or not they can acquire the disposition to use skills and strategies appropriately” (p.84).
RESEARCH APPROACH Action research Tactile-kinaesthetic activities will
be implemented in the classroom in around half of all lessons, both to teach new content and reinforce prior knowledge and understanding
How?
DATA COLLECTION/INSTRUMENTS Previous reports/marks/results Time-on-task (every 15 minutes) Teacher log/journal Student work samples Face scales or likert-type scale to assess
attitudes towards subject as a whole and individual lessons
Learning styles assessment Summative assessment of learning such as
oral or dramatic presentation, posters, etc.
DATA ANALYSIS
Quantitative Qualitative
Previous marks vs. Current
Likert scale/face scale
Time-on-task data Descriptive
statistics
Student work samples
Teacher notes/log/journal
Learning style inventory
Inferential statistics
Determine whether we will use tactile-kinaesthetic teaching techniques for all students
Determine frequency of use of tactile-kinaesthetic methods in our teaching
POTENTIAL USE OF THE FINDINGS
REFERENCES Anderson. A, Rumsey. R (2002) Channeling energy using bodily-kinesthetic
intelligence: helping children with ADHD. Physical & Health Education Journal. Gloucester. 68(3)
Bruer, J. T (1991) The Brain and Child Development: Time For Some Critical Thinking. Public Health Reports, 113 (5), 98-387
Farkas. R. D (2003) The Effects of Traditional versus Learning-Styles Instructional Methods in Middle Years. The Journal of Educational Research. 97(1) 42-54.
Honigsfeld, A. & Dunn, R. (2009). Learning-style responsive approaches for teaching typically performing and at-risk adolescents. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 82(5) 220-224.
Lengel, T and Kuczala, M, (2010). The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning Through Movement. RTC & Corwin. USA.
Peacock, M. (2006). Match or mismatch? Learning styles and teaching styles in EFL. International journal of applied linguistics, 11(1) 1-20.
Piries. B (Dec. 1995) Meaning through Motion: Kinesthetic English. The English Journal, Vol. 84, No. 8, pp. 46-51
Rule, A., Dockstader, C. J. & Stewart, R.A. (2006). Hands-on and kinaesthetic activities for teaching phonological awareness. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(3) 195-201.
Stanford, S. (2003). Multiple Intelligence for every classroom. Intervention in school and clinic, 39(2) 80-85.
Touval. A, Westreich. G. (April 2003) Teaching sums of angle measures: A kinesthetic approach. The Mathematics Teacher. 96(4) pg. 230
THANK YOU For further references and information
please see related word document